


Vegas

by okoyee



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Coming Out, Established Relationship, M/M, but it just drains out into fluff, this seems like it gonna get serious at first
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-15
Updated: 2016-06-15
Packaged: 2018-07-15 05:01:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7208795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/okoyee/pseuds/okoyee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Dan turns 30 and Dan makes a video titled 'Vegas', a short home made video with him and Phil at the alter in Vegas. Not when they were younger, but the current them. He wanted to live out everybody's fantasies about them getting married in Vegas, just a tiny bit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vegas

 

 

 

Phil turns 30.

Two years ago, or maybe even six years ago, there was never that " _pressure"_ that Dan has begun to realize exists between Phil and his age. Eight days before Phil turns 30, his mother asks if he's dating anybody and that he should begin to think about marriage and children. Two days after that his uncle tells him that children are great, and maybe he should look into adoption. A day after his birthday, Dan overhears—as he was attempting to sneak a glass of water at 3 am, usually Phil is asleep by then and he was surprised to find him angrily whispering into his phone with one of his many relatives—one of his aunts mentioning he's a bit old to be playing around anymore, that he should begin looking into settling down and starting a family.

She even says, "Maybe it's time to move out on your own."

Dan knew eventually 'Dan and Phil' would come to an end. They're almost _dinosaurs_ compared to most youtubers, soon they need to grow up and become _real_ people. Soon Phil will be married, heck, soon _Dan_ will be married. But what comes after that? Does 'Dan and Phil' still exist as a combo? By then would people have given up on them? Moved away from the flare of what was phan. The future is always so unsteady, and Dan feels adrift, left behind as Phil begins to move forward. Phil doesn't talk about his families many insensitive comments about his age, marriage and children, Dan simple slides behind walls and holds his ear pressed against a door or the wall and tries his damn hardest to make a connection to what the conversation is about.

"I can't afford to live in London alone," Phil says instead of ' _I don't want to live alone_ ' and Dan feels slightly injured by that choice of words, but he get's it, he really does. Applying emotional issues into conflicts doesn't help a case at all. Phil falls silent, one of his arms crossed over his chest as he scowls at the wall. Dan stares at his reflection briefly in his cup of water. There's a long haul, simply Phil making small pathetic sounds of agreement and then, "I can't just move back—that— _no_! I know the family wants me closer, but that'd—"

There's another long silence. Dan retracts his earlier sentence, definitely not an aunt, definitely Phil's mother. He could never tell her voice apart from the many many females in Phil's Northern family. Dan contemplates on whether he should make some snacks, pull out some beer and tell Phil it's okay. They can think of something together. Dan always approaches Phil with his problems, Phil can consult in him too. Sure Dan isn't 30, he's only 26, but soon his parents will be yapping about marriage and kids too. He gets it. He just wants to be involved, to know what's going on without having to sneak around.

"Mum," Phil says in a pleading way, "Things aren't that simple."

_They really aren't_ , Dan amends. Everything is always a lot harder when you have to think of millions of people that'll _also_ be involved. Phil moves, Dan and Phil will be no more. They'll both, honestly, probably lose subscribers. Phil would have to quit the BBC 1 radio show, they wouldn't be able to do their gaming channel anymore and—and, what about Dan? Where is he involved in all this fiasco? He can't afford a flat in London by himself, either. He doesn't want another roommate. That's not how things work he can't just let his claws retract and allow Phil to leave so easily.

"You know Dan and I are—" another pause, Phil's shoulders tense, his tone lapsing into something rougher, closer to his original Northern accent as it always is whenever he's extremely angry. Phil closes his eyes, "—I told you that it isn't that simple."

The only difference between Phil's family and his own is that half of Phil's family is aware that him and Phil are a "thing"—and Dan only says this in a loose way, because start defining everything too definitely then you have to speak of the future like a proper well behaved couple, they really aren't that—Dan's family, well, maybe aside from his grandmother he highly doubts any of them have an inkling of what's going on. But the thing is, they might not be all too defined, but, Dan never really has considered Phil and him _not_ being together, whether as friends or lovers or as spouses, he always considered there'd be some sort of string that ties around their wrists and keeps them trapped to each other. He never considered how easily that could all fall apart.

Phil, like a good son says 'I love you' in a resigned way and hangs up. Dan awkwardly lingers around the kitchen, ready to hide behind something as Phil (hopefully) storms to his room. He thinks maybe he should wander out and admit to have been listening in to the conversation, and like a proper good couple-thing, talk about this issues and come to a good resolution. Heck, if Phil wants to get married, sure why the hell _not_. They fit the requirement probably better than some people, he could handle that. If Phil wants to move back North, and asks if Dan wants to go with him, well, sure Dan won't be exactly _pleased_ —London is much superior—but fuck, he can learn how to cope. They can adopt kids, and a dog and buy a dumb white-picket fenced house, he'd do whatever Phil wants.

The internet would sort itself out. People would learn to adapt. Heck, half of their subscribers are honestly convinced they're married, anyway.

The floor board creaks under Dan's weight, and like a startled cat, Phil's head snaps in his direction, wide blue eyes taking in Dan for a single fraction of a second before his face flat-lines into a look of indifference. Dan's stomach suddenly feels cold. Awkwardly, "Should we talk about this?"

"Dan," Phil says, his typical scolding but slightly amused voice, "I'm not moving."

"Not that," Dan adds off-handily, _not that, yet_ , he amends in his mind because they'll eventually have to talk about getting a different house. They can't live in a flat forever if Phil _and_ Dan want to have a family. Dan's eyes search for something to look at, something other than Phil, and settles on the couch near Phil's thigh. "Like, I don't know, us?"

Phil looks disgruntled, "Are you going to tell me to start settling down, too?"

"Yes, I your boyfriend am going to tell you to go marry a woman, _Phil_ , really?" Phil looks alarmed, maybe because Dan doesn't say 'boyfriend' and 'I' in the same sentences, ever, really. But Phil may be 30 now, but he's also 26, now. "If either of us are going to propose can we do it in a different country? I'm thinking maybe Italy or France—"

"We'd be butchering our careers," Phil interjects with, almost seeming angry at the fact that Dan is being so _easy_ about the whole thing.

"Oh please, half of our fans think we're honestly dating—"

"It's different then when they _really_ know we're dating."

Dan shuffles awkwardly, slightly pissed off that Phil is being so goddamn defensive about this. Did he honestly think they could live their whole lives without saying 'oh hey, by the way, we're together'? Sure there'd be backlash, there'd be a rise in popularity about their relationship: news papers covering the stories, insistent tweets, begging for them to do a Q&A, they'd have to talk about it on YouNow. Sure it'd be difficult at first, but things would eventually calm down into a more placid understanding. Does he think he's fearless about this situation? If Dan could avoid every argument or potentially awkward talk-to in his life, he would. He fucking _would_.

"I don't want us to have to stop being us," Dan says, and hopes to god that makes sense to Phil because it sure as hell doesn't to him.

"Your family doesn't even _know_ —" Phil's tone rises to it's 'Dan this is a stupid idea' type of tone, and Dan straightens himself out, ready for a screaming match if he really needs one. He can bicker this. And fuck, if he has to convince Phil that they should get married, well he will. He catches himself on that thought, he shouldn't have to _force_ Phil into marrying him. God, what type of person is he.

Phil frowns at him, backs down a bit, "We'd have to do so much undoing of what we've tried to do up and I, what if we—?"

_Break up_.

It hangs thick in the air.

Dan slams his cup down onto the counter, the tips of his lips curling downwards into a disgusted sneer. "Okay," he says simply, and steps wide around Phil just as Phil calls back a sad ' _Dan wait_ ' and Dan knows it's immature, but he slams his door so hard behind him because he wants his anger to echo throughout the house.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Couple advice: never go to bed angry.

Dan knows this is good advice, but it's 3 AM and they literally only fought 5 minutes ago and if Dan already crawls back after such an extravagant show of anger, well, that's just embarrassing. Well, that advice doesn't really apply to him and Phil. Dan doesn't like being spoken to until a day or two after he's calmed down, and Phil will simply wait until Dan is ready to talk to him. It's a system they've built, a good one. It keeps Dan from letting out large amounts of wrath on Phil, and Phil getting the brunt of a shit storm he really shouldn't be subject too.

He understands Phil's worries. If they break up—and this is said with large air quotes, even as Dan mulls the idea in his head—it wouldn't be pretty. They'd be labelled each other's 'ex-husband' for the rest of their lives. It'd be almost impossible for either of them to remarry a woman, it'd be even harder to remarry another man. Sure they almost broke up once in 2012 where they had a spat that lasted almost 4 months, but that was simply a hurdle in their relationship. Every couple get's them. They've gotten over that 'middle couple awkwardness' and are in for the long fucking haul. Dan sure as fuck isn't thinking about break ups, and he thought maybe Phil wouldn't be either. _He's probably just thinking of me_ , Dan tries to rectify, because it's true. Phil is always worried about the future when it concerns Dan.

There's a soft hollow knock at his door, and Dan curls up against the headboard of his bed, curling his laptop against his chest as he glares at the door.

"Dan I wasn't saying I don't _want_ too but you always rush into important things."

_Quick to love and quick to hate_ , is what Phil used to say to him. Said something about tarot cards he had once did, and smiles cryptically.

"I don't want us to rush into anything, and then regret it."

"So would you decide to break up with me if I decided to tweet now 'Phan is legit'?"

"You're _so_ —"

"So _what_ , Phil?" Dan drawls, now smiling as he whips up his phone and pre-types the message, mostly as a type of power play because soon Phil will get irritated enough and throw open his door, because Dan didn't lock his door and never would, honestly. He's correct, and Phil glares as Dan wiggles his phone so Phil can see the text. "Well, what am I?"

"A twat," Phil says simply.

"Unoriginal."

"A bridge troll."

"Slightly better."

" _Unbearable_."

Dan rolls his eyes. "So would you?"

"No," Phil frowns, arms crossing over his chest, "But I would be angry."

He could press a single button. One click and their lives would change forever. How would he react? How would the fans react? Would the world suddenly hate them both, would the world accept it? They've been trying so _hard_ to push this image of them 'together' so that in the future fans will gradually just come to accept Dan and Phil without anything ever being said. He's always wanted that, to be the sort of couple everybody knows but doesn't know _anything_ about.

He backspaces the tweet and leans backwards, the back of his head hitting the headboard.

"Why is this all so difficult?"

Phil offers a tired loop-sided smile at that, "I wish I knew."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They made a mistake.

Well, more like Dan made a mistake—as usual, he's always been a bit of a fuck-up—and now he's standing, lost and unsure of how he should move forward. _Fuck_ , he wants to carve the words out onto his forearm, watch himself bleed the sound out of himself, _fuck_ , fuck is a chant, a chant he has to repeat so much just to keep himself sane as he scrolls through every media site possibly.

Dan and Phil made a mistake.

Someone threw a big party for Phil, PJ did, despite the fact that Dan is _Phil's_ best friend plus the added extra of 'lovers' and feels some resentment towards the fact PJ had wanted to throw a party. Thus no longer allowing Dan to throw the party. Fucking hell PJ didn't even allow Dan to _help_ plan it. Though he guesses he understands, he get's a bit controlling at times regarding things that effect him or Phil. Mostly Phil. So PJ threw a big party, which Phil didn't look like he wanted to go to beforehand. Him and Dan just fought, still raw from the questions that they have yet to _discuss_. What now? What do they do _now_? Dan hasn't felt this lost ever since university.

Phil is supposed to be his anchor, not the waves crashing into the boat. God _fuck_ he can't handle losing his anchor.

Either way, Dan and Phil went, Dan wearing the most depressing outfit possible as Phil tried to look happier on the outside than he really was on the inside with bright vibrant colours, that made them stand out more, arguably. They both got drunk, stupidly drunk, the type of drunk that celebrities of no kind should get, and did something stupid.

They kissed. A stupid fucking innocent kiss. They _always_ kiss.

Kiss goodbye, kiss hello, kiss goodnight—there's so many dumb kisses Dan has got into the habit of because Phil likes shit like that—and Phil had decided to go bar hopping more with everybody, and Dan had thought to himself 'well I'm going to bed, so' and did his usual goodnight kiss. No big _deal_. No big deal aside from the fact it was in public, outside a bar, and someone snapped a photo. A blurry, dark photo, but a photo nevertheless.

The internet goes wild: _WILD_. No amount of capslock can explain how big the shit storm ends up, Dan considers making a video about it saying Phil and him were _plastered_ and that the kiss was a dare and they were too drunk to say no, but, that would come with the implication that they are not together and that in the future, when they do plan to reveal everything, people will call upon Dan's exact words and it'd just hurt Phil in the end. Everything Dan does hurts Phil in the end. But staying silent seems almost worse, people spam their comments, spam their twitters, spam the photo comments. People are tagging them in the picture with question marks, demanding answers. He never understood why everybody on the internet feel they're so entitled to the tinsy-bitsy details of Dan and Phil's lives.

By the fifth day, he realizes with begrudging actuality, that their fans have no plans on letting this go.

"We have to say something." Phil decides, mixing his spoon slowly into the powdered mixture of hot chocolate. Dan stills, the rhythmic tapping he was doing with the tip of his fingers stopping and the entire flat falls silent. He wants to snap that Phil is being _stupid,_ why should they have to do anything? He hates the thought of 'coming out' but, he knows that all youtubers have to " _come out"_ in the sense their fans need to be aware of the relationship. But it's scary, terrifying, to have the whole world's eyes scrutinizing your relationship. "Dan, they're getting impatient."

"Should we make a coming out video then?" Dan hisses, it occurs to him that this isn't _Phil's_ fault and tries to tone down the irritation towards this entire situation.

Phil sighs, spoon clattering against the side of the cup as he sets it down onto the table, right across from Dan. "Whatever you want."

"No it's just—" he scrambles forward, the tips of his fingers running over Phil's cold knuckles, Phil smiles tiredly, smile almost close to a frown, "—It's just, I'm worried. Will we be okay?"

"Well," Phil hums, fingers slipping through Dan's, "I assume we'll be fine. I mean, no one knows our address aside from our friends so I think in the end we'll survive. Should we post it on your channel or mine?"

Dan snorts in disbelief. Of course that's what Phil's worried about, Phil always looks ahead, not two steps behind or a million different angles in the present: just ahead. Everything to him is looked at objectively, and like a boat lost at sea Dan clings onto that again and again. He squeezes Phil's hand weakly. "Rock paper scissors?"

Phil snorts, "I thought you hated coming out videos."

"Today's my day for YouNow," Dan says quickly, a plan slowly formulating in his head, "They'll definitely ask about it, and I can just say 'Oh, it was a goodnight kiss cause Phil was going bar hopping with the other's.' I mean, it'll be vague but clear enough to put the idea of us together in their heads and maybe cool the shit storm—"

"You should be more straight forward with them."

Dan pursues his lips in distaste, mulling the idea over in his head. ' _Why were you kissing?'_ how would he answer, with shy giggles and the statement he had previously said, would he be nonchalant and say 'Well, we're together' or would he avoid those questions completely? He can't avoid showing his face forever, eventually he has to settle down on an answer to the questions roaming the internet like wild fire. All over tumblr is the questioning of Dan and Phil's relationship, but Dan has yet to see a particular decrease in either of their subscribers, a good sign, he's taking this as.

Maybe his previous pushing had finally come into blossom. Finally, all his hard work has finally come to term. Maybe now he can lay down his arms and rest.

"I'll think of a great way, somehow," Dan finally mutters, squeezing Phil's hand encouragingly—to which Phil frowns at—and decides to wander off to his laptop and get on YouNow. Deal with the issue in the heat of the moment, before his previous cowardice comes roaring to life and suffocates him until he's crouched in the corner of his room panicking. He logs onto YouNow as usual, some fans coming on and he begins his usual greetings, pulling the multiple screen trick, shutting the laptop closed, tweeting and then the masses begin to flood in,

"Now, I know what all of you guys are going to spam me with."

Hundreds of comments begin popping up all along the lines of ' _is phan real!?_ ' of any sort of variation. Dan, almost shyly, realizes Phil is watching this as well.

"I'm assuming a majority of you want to know about the picture of Phil and I kissing, and if you didn't previously know, do you live under a rock? Now, from this point on I'll answer 5 questions relating to that photo and then we can all move on with our lives."

His eyes land on the first question, "Why were you kissing? Answer: Phil was going bar hopping more, so I was saying goodnight."

He stubbornly refuses to come out, what is the point of that? Well, at least straight couples on youtube have to "come out" as well, that is the only comfort he receives from all of this drama. He laughs at the majority of dirty questions people begin to ask, now acting under the assumption that phan is truly real.

"Lamas asks 'are you going to make a coming out video?', the answer to this is _no_. I don't know about Phil, but I don't want too."

Dan plays nervously with his bangs, looking off to the corner of the room where he had propped a mirror so he could fix his hair without being too obnoxious about it. He scans through the chat, briefly annoyed by the onslaught of ' _phan_!1!' comments suddenly flooding in, though, it wasn't as though he wasn't expecting it all too much.

" _sparklediccs_ asks: were you two drunk? Unbelievably so. Phil came home and broke a glass, that's how drunk we were. What else? I didn't see the username but someone asked: will there be a wedding? Now guys, let's not jump the gun." There's a lull, Dan wondering if he should end the '5 question' game with something to leave his fans thinking head and tails about, "Uyuusues asks: How long have you two been together? A long time. Alright 5 questions are up, now let the whole picture thing go and ask about different things you mongrels."

The live show continues as usual, and Dan, well he really isn't sure how he feels about that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The word of Dan and Phil spreads like wild fire.

Dan's words are quoted in every internet news source. It's all over tumblr, and all over their comments on all their tweets, and instagram. People question, _very_ confused, _are they really dating_? Not really sure if they should take Dan's words seriously or not, not sure if the legitness is good enough or not. Two days roll by, Phil does his live show and admits, _very_ clearly that him and Dan are dating (stating afterwards to Dan, in a passive aggressive way, that their fans need to be spoken to clearly, not in cryptic words). It took about two months to finally settle, their viewing rate skyrocketing before returning to what it was beforehand.

Because as soon as they lost the novelty of being gay, their usual viewership returned to it's normal state. And finally, Dan allows a breath of clean air.  _Finally_ , finally him and Phil are free from this odd pressure. They don't really act more or less of a couple than they did before, they aren't the type of people to be touchy in front of other people in general, so it wasn't a big change in the first place. Dan has considered weighing the pros and cons of kissing on camera, and decides the cons outweigh the pros. Honestly it would just be another wild fire. 

But this is okay. He's okay with this. 

Now people refer to Dan or Phil not as ' _oh Dan's roommate Phil?'_ but now a, casual ' _Dan's boyfriend Phil?_ ' He likes that. He really does. 

Right now, he couldn't ask for anything more. 

Him and Phil, Phil and him. 

'That dumb internet gay couple,' is what they're labelled, and honestly they were labelled that way before they came out. It just makes sense. Their legacy is just that and much, much more. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(When Dan turns 30 and Dan makes a video titled ' _Vegas_ ', a short home made video with him and Phil at the alter in Vegas. Not when they were younger, but the current them. He wanted to live out everybody's fantasies about them getting married in Vegas, just a tiny bit.) 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> idk i feel like dan and phil will get married in vegas one day just to be little shits 
> 
> also it seems a bit angsty at first because i was originally gonna make this an angst fic but that didnt pan out LOL


End file.
